We got ****ing lost in a cave in guatemala!

  Antigua, Guatemala
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The cave of the Serpent

Okay, so we went to discover the "cave of the serpent" in Santa Elana. A rickshaw dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, and we paid a man, with what looked like a lemonade stand, $4 US to tour a cave on his property. He walked us to the entrance and asked if we would like a guide to take us thru, well for $20 bucks hell no! He informed us to stay within the illuminated area of the caves. So we headed into the creepy dark and wet cave with just a travel flashlight. We were the only people in this huge cave. After getting about 45 mins into the sparsely illuminated maze of stalagmites we crouch down to get into a small passage way, of which we decide is way too dark and scary, as we turn around to leave ....the power cuts out!!!! WTF we have no clue how to get out and it all looks the same from the 1 foot illuminated radius of our flashlight... oh PS we are in Guatemala! Where they have guerrillas ( not the kind in the zoo)! We have never moved so swiftly looking for an escape route from the bat filled, pitch black and  wet cave. I was pretty sure we were loosing oxygen and fast!! I am not sure if you can grasp how terrifying this truly was!!!!! When we erupted from the cave I am sure that the waiting tour group was no longer interested in entering when they saw the colorless expressions on our face. We laughed (and cried) the entire way home lol Best 10 bucks yet. lol
After that we had to keep the adrenalin going so we headed to Lanquin and Semuc Champey. We stayed at a back packers paradise called El Retrio. 

backpackers paradise

The place had a great vibe, tiki huts right on the river with hammocks and great food!  We went on this amazing excursion to Semuc Champey  (Thanks for the recommendation Dan) where we started out swimming thru a cave by only candlelight, sounds relaxing right? Well actually it was swimming, climbing, scaling, jumping and sliding thru a black cave by only candlelight. When we entered the cave our guide let us know that we had 2 hours from this point before hypothermia set in so everyone needed to move quickly! Yes it was very cold, but you hardly notice when your passing under a waterfall by only a piece of rope! lol After we climbed out of the cave it was on to the rope swing and jumping off the bridge. Then a quick climb up the hill to the most amazing natural lagoons I have ever seen. They are pools on top of a natural lime stone bridge over the river, It was the best day ever!!

The Lagoons

Well we had to move on because it turns out paradise has a price and Teddy was paying it............BED BUGS or Chinches as they are known in Guatemala. So we headed to Antigua and into a new bed! Antigua is very European, we love it here! I would highly recommend it to all of you. It is Barcelona at one third the price. Yesterday day we made a VERY intense trek up Pacaya volcano  (2 hours straight up, I hated life), but it was all worth it once we reached the top where we hopped around hardened Lava as our shoes melted. We roasted marshmallows over the magma, as well as some stick poking lol

lava 3

We are having a Blast, feel free to stop by for a visit
Teddy and Brooklyn
xx